The man in the winter jacket
by shermitkermit
Summary: A warmly dressed stranger in the night is surely a villain is he not.
1. Chapter 1

It is night-time. You are unsure of the exact hour as your watch has been broken for years. You still wear it. It comforts you to see the numbers placed neatly around every twelfth of the face, knowing they will never again be brushed by the spindly hands which now permanently read twenty to eleven. Looking lazily both ways before crossing the deserted road you think you see a shape in the distance. A figure of some sort. But it is late and you are cold.

You skip the pub, you skip running into the newsagent for a packet of cigarettes, instead you continue walking, you're going home.

You were supposed to be going home.

You stride down the pavement, conscious you are being watched but figuring anyone out this late isn't going to be anyone you can't handle. After all it can only be around nine. Half nine at the latest. A flake of snow lands on your nose. It dissolves immediately.

The houses in this street have always made you laugh. You laughed at them secretly because they unnerved you. They cannot be more than ten metres wide but they are tall. Like the lanky kids in the year above at school that used to steal people's lunch money. You quicken your pace. Your follower is gaining on you.

Reaching the corner you catch a glimpse of your stalker as you turn. He is not tall. He is wearing a dark winter coat and you see the reflection of the street light in his glasses. You are nowhere near home. You have actually taken the wrong turning. You should have gone left but you daren't turn around now. You are hesitant to check if the man is still following you. What if he has a gun?

You're getting ahead of yourself, he's probably just a bloke that had to run out for a pack of fags. Yes that's it he' smoking. You can smell the familiar smell of tobacco in the air, he must still be behind you. You cannot stand the suspense any more, you turn, thinking you could ask him for a cigarette. He would be harmless.

The air smells strange now. At first you were sure it was tobacco it was. But now it smelt different, unfamiliar. Like tobacco mixed with... something else. What was it? You could smell damp, like the smell of washing you'd left on the line only to find out it had rained all day and you had to bring it in. A musky smell too, it reminded you of something, a drink you tried once at a bar.

The man behind you is gone. If not gone, he is at least not behind you any more. But where did he go?

"Hello," a voice says from directly in front of you. You spin round to find yourself practically nose to nose with a man. A man wearing glasses and a winter coat. This was the man who had been following you. Now you could see his eyes. Incredible eyes. You were in no doubt this man was not a friend. This man reeked quite literally of evil. But those eyes, they suggested something else. A sadness. A mystery. You see him shoot a concerned look behind you, was there someone else there? The man returns his gaze to you and you think you see him smile through blurry eyes as you feel yourself fall unconscious. Your knees can no longer withhold you and you collapse upon yourself.

You do not remember hitting the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up you find yourself on a cold, hard surface. You're on the floor in a room you do not recognise but every part of you is telling you this is not a nice place. The room you are in isn't big, but it's not claustrophobic either. It looks bigger because there is so little furniture: a wooden desk sits opposite an uncomfortable looking chair. Looking just as uncomfortable on the other side of the room is a single bed. A sad bed. The kind of bed you get in hospitals.

Where the hell are you?

You ponder this whilst you attempt to get up off the floor but discover instantly you cannot. You'd been drugged. Either that or you had forgotten how to use your legs. You don't bother trying to get up again, you just about manage to manoeuvre your legs and pull them in to your chest. It is while you are hugging your knees you glance up at the wall. Opposite you just left of the door - which anyone could tell even without trying it, was locked - sat a large black rectangle. You realise almost immediately what it is. You've seen one of these before, it's a window. Not a normal window where you could look through either side and see the other. No, this window only worked one way, and it wasn't in your favour. Was someone watching you right now? Of course they were, someone had been watching you for weeks, you just didn't want to acknowledge it. It's a bit late now.

You had been so engrossed in staring through, or rather _at, _the window that you hadn't noticed the body slip in through the door. The man's footsteps echo against the walls of the small room as he makes his way towards you. Crouching down in front of you he meets your eye level and you realise him to be the man who had been following you last night. Was it last night? How many days had passed? Had you been here a day, a week? _Where were you_

He places a hand on your shoulder, he does so carefully but his grasp is firm. You open your mouth to say something to him, although you don't know what, he stops you anyway by speaking first.

"I can't explain this to you right now, there's no time. All you need to know is that you're safe in here." He speaks in a hushed tone so quiet it is almost a whisper. For the first time you see his face through clear eyes. You see his crafted cheekbones and his eyes, you couldn't see them properly last night, it had been very dark and you could of sworn he was wearing glasses then too. Now his eyes sat prominently looking into yours. No glasses, nothing between your face and his but the stifling air, smelling faintly of cigarettes. Maybe it wasn't even him that you saw last night. Icy blue eyes, mysterious eyes, you find yourself speaking just to stop you getting lost in them.

"Safe, safe from what?" You croak as if it is the first time you have spoke in a while. He raises his eyebrows a fraction and gives you a piercing look. You know what it means. _I can't explain this to you now._

"Listen," he looks around quickly, checking the coast is clear like a schoolboy checking it's safe for him to put the clock forward without anyone noticing. He snaps his gaze back at you.

"They're coming to assess you any moment, I can't be here. Just know this, the less you know the safer you are. Don't mention me, don't even tell them your name. I'm sorry." and with that he got up and left. You did not watch him leave, instead you watched his feet. You were still weak from whatever drug you had been doused with and looking up was too much effort. His heels turned when he reached the door and they did not move for a few moments.

Then he was gone.

Eight seconds later the door opened again. Different shoes. Two pairs. Unless you were in some kind of mutant house - which at this point you couldn't rule out - two men had just walked in.

"Well looks like we got ourselves a new toy Ralph," the first man spoke with a deep voice, he had a New York accent. The other guy, Ralph, laughed. He laughed like a man you remember passing on the bus one time. A cruel, cackling laugh, like a hyena who had just spotted his next meal.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright precious, how are you doll?" Ralph says condescendingly. You don't look up, your gaze is still locked on the spot where the man had stopped before leaving.

"Not much of a talker are ya? No matter. Hey Dennis pass me a pen." You hear the sound of something - presumably a pen - being thrown and then caught. Ralph bounds over to where you are sat and slumps down in front of you. His eyes are small and brown, he has a big nose and a poor attempt of a moustache. His teeth are crooked and when he smiles at you you notice he is missing one of his front teeth.

"Hello, my name's Ralph. What's yours darlin"

You remember what the man had said. You don't say anything. Should you say anything? After all there was no evidence this man was any more trustworthy than Ralph and the other man, Dennis you think he's called. Then again, there was no evidence he was any less. Nevertheless you felt if there was any chance of you getting out of here, then he was your best hope. Ralph scribbles something onto his clipboard.

"Age? Do you know how old you are?"

Nothing.

"Hey Ralph come an' look at this," the other man calls over. Ralph looks hopelessly at you, realising he is not going to get anything out of you no matter how hard he tries. He gets up and goes over to see what his friend is looking at. You manage to summon just enough energy to lift your head and see the two men discussing a crack in the blacked out window. Strange, you had been studying it earlier and it hadn't caught your attention.

"You manage to get anything outta her?" Dennis mutters.

"Not a squeak, another lost cause i think. Crane probably wants her for testing his new... what exactly is it he's created now?"

"God knows, with that man it could be anything. As long as he ain't testin' out his happy gas on me i'm fine with knowin' nothing"

Both of the men turn to look at you and Ralph scribbles some more onto his clipboard, looking up at you every now and then, scanning you for details. Dennis began walking towards you. He squats down on the floor and grabs a section of your hair. He buries his nose in it and takes a long sniff, after which he exhales loudly. "Mmmh, yes he's gonna like you. Shame really, I think we could of found a much better use for you than testing medicines ey Ralph," he looks up at his friend menacingly. Dennis lets go of your hair and persisted to place a hand on your cheek, running it down your neck and across your collarbone. Your coat had been taken off and you sat there now in just your shirt. His hand continued to wander as he spoke again. "Yes I think Ralph and I would've put you to _much_ better use. Just imagine the things we could've done. Things the boss would never have to find out about, it would be our little secre-"

"Would Mr Brown and Mr Lamb please report to the main office immediately, repeat Brown and Lamb to main office immediately, thank you," a deep voice says over the tannoy.

"Jesus Christ what do they want now! Hey you reckon JC's giving us a promotion?"

Dennis lets out a sigh so annoyed it's almost a growl. The two men make their way towards the door.

"Untill next time doll."

Then the door closed. You were alone again. You suddenly realise how cold you are. You're shivering when the door opens again half hour later.

"Hey, how're you feeling? Are you cold?" it's blue eyes. He takes off his jacket and wraps it around your shoulders.

"Thanks," you say. The drugs have near enough worn off now and your brain is starting to wake up and tick again. "Who were those men?"

"_Doctors._" He says begrudgingly, rolling his eyes as if he thought they didn't deserve such a title. "They came to assess just how crazy you are."

"Is that where I am?" You ask, more interested than afraid, "in a nut house?"

"Something like that," he says calmly, cocking his head to one side. He appeared to be taking you in, looking you over in a way he hadn't done last time. He was calmer now, he must of known he had more time. Hopefully now he would explain what the hell was happening. He looked at you for a moment, narrowing his eyes again as if he was looking into you as opposed to at you.

"What is your name" it was a statement more than a question but you felt inclined to answer. He nods at you when you reply, as if he is impressed you answered correctly.

"What's yours?" you throw it back at him but he seemed to have been expecting it to come sooner or later.

"Wolfrick," he smiles. "Wolfrick Adams, i'm in the room next door to you, though it's more of a cell if you ask me" his eyes wander around the room as he looks around him. "They don't even bother locking the doors for me i've been here for so long. Your door is tricky though, they're half expecting you to make a run for it at any moment."

"How did you get in then?" You ask. Again, it seems he'd been expecting this one as well. You'd barely finished the sentence and he was holding up a hairpin with a pleased look on his face. You laugh and he joins in. You miss laughing. You still don't know how long you've been here but you know you'd been in need a laugh. You were thankful to him for supplying that laugh.

Wolfrick looks at you for a second before sitting himself down next to you, you're both leaning against the wall. He tells you a story he says he overheard from another prisoner. He calls you both prisoners. You suppose that is what you are. He tells you all about the doctors that come in and make notes twice a day.

"They visit us every morning and every evening," he says, sounding as if he is about to unveil a master plan, which of course, he is. "First visit is usually around nine fifteen, then the second is about eight at night, giving you a nice big window in between." He goes on to explain a complicated but legitimate sounding escape route.

"If this is as foolproof as you say how come you're still here?" Immediately you feel you've said something wrong as he looks sadly at the ground.

"It's not quite as easy for me," he tugs at the collar of his shirt and pulls it down, revealing a small cut on his chest.

"They'd know where i am in an instant," he looks down ashamedly at the mark where a tracking device had been imported. "The funny thing is it doesn't work in these cells. I can go wherever I want. But outside these doors i'm a walking target.

You place your hand on his arm in sympathy. It's the closest part of him to you and it felt like the right thing to do but no sooner had you done it you feel him recoil slightly in surprise, that's never a good sign.

"I'm sorry I -"

"Don't be sorry," he says quickly. He jumps up to his feet and you are quick behind him, the drugs completely worn off now.

"Forgive me I thought -" you call behind him just as he is about to reach the door. He stops and turns around immediately.

"Forgive you?" He looks almost angry, "forgive you you haven't _done anything wrong_!" he looks into your eyes. He is not much taller than you. "You haven't done anything wrong." he says again, more to himself than you. He looks so sad you just want to put your arms around him but after his episode just now you daren't. You want to help him though. You risk it and grasp one of his hands. He flinches again but he doesn't recoil. He allows you to hold his hand for a few moments. He still appears to be somewhere else mentally so for some god be known reason you decide to kiss him on the cheek, hoping it will bring him back.

"What was that for?" He was back alright.

"For talking to me, for helping me find out how to escape, for being a friend... that was for actually being a normal person amidst all this... whatever this is. Thank you."

His hand fell away from yours and a moment later he'd gone. He'd seemed almost in a daze when he left. You dismissed this as his time here beginning to take it's toll on him, you'd only been here a day (you think) and already you could feel it getting to you. It doesn't matter though. You'll be out of here tomorrow.

with Wolfrick's help, tomorrow you will escape.


End file.
